Gentlemen may prefer blondes but Britain's most sophisticated secret service agent tends to go for brunettes, according to an extensive investigation¹ into James Bond's love life.

Academics who set out to discover what makes the ideal Bond girl found that apart from having long dark hair, she is likely to have an American accent – and to carry a weapon.

The unexpected findings were reached by a team who assessed the physical traits of all 195 female characters in the first 20 Bond movies, then contrasted the characteristics of the 98 who had "sexual contact" with Bond with those of the 97 who did not.

Unsurprisingly, Bond's sexual partners also tend to be younger, slimmer and more attractive than the women he does not bed – and they are less likely to wear glasses.

Those who fit the ideal type include Lois Chiles as Dr Holly² Goodhead in Moonraker (1979) and Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

The researchers studied all women who had speaking roles or who appeared in two or more scenes in each film from Dr No in 1962, starring Sean Connery, to Die Another Day in 2002, starring Pierce Brosnan. The average age of the women was estimated at 26.

Only 27 per cent of the women were blondes, compared with 40 per cent with black hair, 19 per cent brown and nine per cent red. Those with dark hair were proportionately more likely to get intimate with Bond.

The 18 per cent of women who had long hair were more likely to end up in a sexual situation with 007 than the 22 per cent who had short hair.

More than 90 per cent of the women were judged to be of above-average attractiveness – and the prettier they were, the more likely they were end up in bed with Bond.

Only a quarter of the women in the films had an American accent, but those that did were more likely to end up in a sexual liaison³ with Bond than the 43 per cent who had a European accent of some kind.

"A majority of female characters engaged in some sexual activity, particularly those in major roles. And the great majority of sexual behaviours involved Bond himself," says the research team, led by Kimberly Neuendorf, professor of communication at Cleveland State University, Ohio.

Three-quarters of the women in the films were white, eight per cent Asian and seven per cent black, with a handful of Arab and American Indian women. One in five female characters were dead by the end of the movie, including many who had had sexual contact with Bond.

Bond was more likely to have sexual contact with a woman if she used a weapon than if she did not.

一项针对詹姆斯•邦德爱情生活的大规模调查发现，男士们也许偏爱金发尤物，但这位英国最厉害的特工却钟情于黑发女郎。

研究人员想要探究完美邦女郎的特质，结果发现，除了拥有一头乌黑的长发之外，她最好还要讲美音，并且携带武器。

研究小组分析了前20部邦德系列影片中共195位女郎的体貌特征，继而将（电影中）与邦德有过亲密关系的98位邦女郎与另外97位进行了对比，得出了这一意外发现。

研究结果显示，与邦德有过亲密关系的女郎更年轻、苗条，与和他没有亲密关系的女郎相比更有吸引力，戴眼镜的也更少，这也在人们意料之中。

符合完美邦女郎形象的包括在1979年上映的《登月计划》中饰演“妙算博士”的路易斯•智利，以及在1971年上映的《金刚钻》中饰演普兰蒂·奥图尔的拉娜•伍德。

研究人员分析了邦德系列影片中的所有有台词或上镜两次以上的女性，从1962年肖恩•康纳利出演的《诺博士》至2002年皮尔斯•布鲁斯南出演的《谁与争锋》。据估计，这些女性的平均年龄为26岁。

仅有27%的邦女郎是金发美女，而黑发女郎则占到了40%，棕发美女占19%，另有9%是红发美女。从比例上看，黑发女郎更容易与邦德有亲密关系。

与占总数22%的短发邦女郎相比，占总数18%的长发邦女郎更可能与邦德有性关系。

据称，90%以上的邦女郎拥有过人魅力，而且越漂亮的邦女郎越可能与邦德上床。

影片中，仅有1/4的邦女郎讲一口美音，持某种欧洲口音的占43%，而讲美音的邦女郎更可能与邦德发生性关系。

研究小组负责人、克利夫兰州立大学传播学教授金伯莱•纽恩道夫说：“大多数女性角色，特别是女主角都在影片中与男性有某些性行为，而绝大多数是和邦德。”

3/4的邦女郎是白人，8%是亚洲人，7%是黑人，还有一些阿拉伯人和美国印地安人。影片中，1/%的邦女郎最终殒命，其中很多人与邦德有过性关系。

而邦德更可能与携有武器的女性有性关系。

 vocabulary:

 secret service agent：秘密特工